Conveyer device for excavating and loading machines.



G. W. IACKSON.

CONVEYER DEVICE FOR EXCAVATING AND LOADING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.26| |1912.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I Il Il G'. W. JACKSON.

CONVEYER DEVICE FOR EXCAVATING AND LOADING MACHINES.

* APPLICATION man Aua.26, 1912.

1,178,449. Patented Apr. 4', 1916.

, 2 sHEETs-SHEET z.

GEORGE W. JACKSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB., BY MIESNEl ASSIGNMENTS, T'O

B'UCYRUS COMPANY, OF SOUTH MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION 0F WIS.

CONSIN.

CONVEYER`DEVICE FOR EXCAVATING AND LOADINGMACHINES.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4., 191e. j

.Application led August 26,1912. Serial No.l 717,015.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. JACKSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conveyer De vices for Excavating and Loading Machines; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of refi erence marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in conveyers for excavating and loading machines of that class provided with a series of s aced buckets or like devices which are carried, by the traveling movement of the conveyer, into the pile of material to be handled to pick up the material and thereafter carry the same to a place of disposal, as a car at the rear of the machine upon which the material is to be loaded and transported. i

Among the objects of the invention is to provide means on the conveyer located between the buckets for loosening the material in tha pile so that said material will not tend to ,be packed ,in the buckets when the buckets are thrust into the pile, thereby permitting said material to be freely discharged from the buckets when the latter reach their dumping position.

A further object of the invention is to provide means carried by the flexible side members or chains of the conveyer at the spaces between the buckets and at the sides of the buckets to prevent the material falling laterally off of the conveyer.

A still further object of the invention is4 to provide means carried by the side members or chains of the conveyer for cleaning the tracks of the boom on which the conveyer travels.

, The invention consists in the matters here-` inafter set forth and more particularly pointedout in the appended. claim.

v 19th day of April, 1912, but is adaptable to My invention isherein shown as applied to the conveyer of an excavating and loading machine of that general type shown in my prior application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 691,900, filed on the machines of other types.

vvation of an excavating and loading machine equipped with my improved conveyer device. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the boom andthe conveyer device. Fig. 3 is a detail transverse section showingthe manner of mounting the loosening lingers on the conveyer. Fig. 4 is a detail plan v iew of one of the side chains of the conveyer, showing the manner of mounting the sweeping brush thereon. Fig. 5 is a section on the) 65 line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fig.' 6 is a transverse section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a detail side view of lanother form of conveyer showing the application of the chain carried side bars thereto.

The boom 10 shown in Fig. 1 comprises a generally horizontal rear portion which extends to a point rearwardly of the frame or support 11 by which. it is carried, and a downwardly curved front portion which extends to a point in front of the frame 11 in position to be forced into the pile of material to be handled. Said frame `11-in practice is provided with'suitable traction means to advance and retract the machine `toward and from the pile of material. The

said boom comprises side members 14, 14 whichcarry at their upper and lower edges inwardly extending flanges 15, 15 constituting tracks on which the conveyer chains are supported and travel. Said side members may be connected by the upper and lower transverse plates 16 which extend between and are riveted to th side members. The upper plate prevents material from falling through the boom.

The-boom is supported at its rear endl on the frame 11 by standards 18, 18 which are pivoted at their lower ends at 19 to lugs that rise upwardly from the frame 11. The boom is also supported at the forward end of the frame by means of raising and lower-y ing links, comprising the lower interiorly screwhreaded sleeves 120 pivoted at 21 to the frame, and the upper right and left 100 hand screw shafts 22 that are rotatively mounted at their upper ends in brackets 23 pivotally carried by a transverse shaft 24 that extends through the boom; the said transverse shaft and screw shafts being provided with intermeshing beveled gears 25, 26 whereby rotation of the shaft 24 is communicated to the screwshafts, to raise and lower the boom. 'lhis construction is generally similar to the construction shown l1n my pending application for United Statesl Letters Patent, Serial No. 713,214, filed on the 5th day of August, 1912.

.The conveyer comprises endless side I chains 30, 30, each of which consists of laterally separated links 31, 31 that are joined by pins 32 that extend through their overlapping ends as shown in Fig. 4. Said pins are equipped with rollers 33 that travel oli shown in Figsd and-2 or' otherwise, said' buckets being open at their ends in the direction toward which the conveyer travels. As herein shown, the buckets are connected with the side chains by the pins or bolts 32 which connect the links of ythe chains together, said pins or bolts extending inwardly beyond the chains and through the side walls of the buckets and provided at their inner screw-threaded ends, inside said walls, with nuts.

Arranged along the conveyer in the spaces between the buckets are a plurality of loosening lingers 37, which are carried by the side chains 30 and extend outwardly ktherefrom to or approximately to the line of the scooping edges of the buckets. ,l rlhese fingers are arranged in sets, with five fingers in a set as herein shown, though a less or a greater number may be employed.V Each set extends transversely across the conveyer, and they are carried by plates 38 which are made of substantially the width of the bottoms of the buckets and are formed with outsanding flangesA 39, 39 which are pierced to receive the pins or bolts 32 of the conveyer chains, whereby said plates are carried by the conveyer chains in the same manner as are the buckets 35. The said flanged margins of the plate 38 may be reinforced by angle bars 40, as shown in Fig. 3, said angle bars serving to strengthen the flanged margins of the platesl38. rlhe saidloosening lingers preferably extend rearwardly from the plates and are curved upwardly and forwardly in the same general manner as the rear walls of the bucket. As herein shown, they are attached to the carrying plates 38 by means of rivets which extend through horizontally arranged portions 42 that lie over thesaid plates 38 and angle bars 40. rlhe said loosening fingers serve to loosen the material in advance of the attack thereof by the buckets, so that when the buckets are forced into the material said material lis loosened to such an extent as to avoid the packing thereof into the buckets-asthe buckets are forced into the material. ln certain kinds of material which tend to pack or solidify,

such for instance as fertilizers, the forcing v side wall of the buckets.

riveste of the buckets intovthe pile of material has the effect to pack the material solidly in the buckets so as to prevent the free clearance of the material from the buckets when the latter reach their dumping position. 'lhe use of the loosening llingers described avoids such packing of the material in the buckets and enables the material to be dumped freely from the buckets.

In order to prevent the material from dropping or falling laterally od' the conveyer at the spaces between the buckets, the side chains of the conveyer are provided with upstanding retaining plates or members of substantial height which overlap the These retaining plates maycomprise extensions 45, 45 of the inner link members 31 of the side chains, as best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. As herein shown, the said link members extend upwardly substantially one-half of the height of the buckets. The end plates or extensions are turned outwardly to properly fit the flaring side walls of the buckets, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. As shown in Fig. 1, the buckets are spaced a distance apart equal approximately to threev links of the chain, so that the inner members of these three links are thus widened to prevent the material from falling laterally oil the conveyer at any point between the buckets, the end members overlapping the Side walls of theY adjacent. buckets.

` In Fig. 7 is shown a conveyer in which the buckets 35 are located closely adjacent to each other. ln this construction the inner member of each alternate link 48 extends across the space between adjacent buckets, with oneend thereof overlapping a rear bucket and the otherend thereof overlapping a forward bucket.

ln order to prevent the tracks 15 from becoming clogged by material which may drop off the buckets, ll have provided brushes, designated as a whole by 50, which are carried by the side chains in position to sweep along the carrying surfaces of the tracks. These brushes each comprise a block 51 arranged between the members of the chain links, as best shown in Figs. 4 and 6, and they are provided on their lower sides with bristles 52 adapted for sweeping engagement with the tracks, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 6. The said blocks 51 are preferably arranged diagonallyl across the space between the members of the chain links so as to provide a maximum surface of brush contact with the tracks, and also to most eectively scrape material from the tracks.

In order to permit the brushes to swing outwardly to clear the sprocket wheels about which the side chains are trained, said brushes are carried by spring arms 55., 55 which, in the present instance, ,are curved about the pins 32 on which the rollers 33 lill@ ae mounted, and are attached thereto in t e manner shown inFig. 5; the rollers 33 adjacent to the brushes being somewhat shortened Jfor the purpose fof this attachment.

The conveyer side chains are trained about sprocket wheels 60, 61, mountedat the front and rear ends respectively of the boom. The conveyer is driven by a motor 62 carried by the rear end of the booml which is geared to the shaft 63 of the rear sprocket wheel 61, in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

It will be understood that the structural details herein shown may be somewhat varied within the spirit and scope invention, and the invention is not limited to such details except as hereinafter made the subject of specific claim and as imposed by the prior art.

of the' I claim as my invention A conveyer for excavating and loading machines comprising, in combination with a boom having conveyer tracks, of a conveyer v comprising side chains which travel on said tracks, said chains each comprising laterally spaced articulated link members, buckets arranged between and carried by said chains,

and brushes between the laterally spaced' i Witnesses:

W. M. CLARK, A. D. SHANKs.`

that I claim the foregoing I aliX my signature in the, 

